This is an account of my official West Valley "Mountain Flying" checkout, taken in a near-new American General AG5B Tiger, instructed by a seasoned mountain pilot CFII (Pete used to instruct at Leadville, Colorado) and accompanied by a fellow pilot friend, Jeff, who also flies in the checkout and provides third-passenger ballast.
A Tiger is not a very good mountain airplane, as we will find out.
"OK. Now we'll just try to follow that road there. How are we going to identify the correct road?"
"Well. It's the road coming off from the reservoir there; see the distinctive branch; we'll just look for that and the lakes around it."
"Sure. Provided we can see enough through these broken clouds!"
It is Friday's mountain checkout for Jeff Komori and I in the Tiger. Pete Olson, CFII, presides...
We at 10,500 and climbing in the vicinity of the Hangtown VOR, looking for Highway 88 which Pete CFII advises will take us directly to our destination, Alpine County airport in Markleeville.
Unfortunately, we are skimming a broken layer right now and the ground is 1 1/2 miles below, and only sometimes visible through the occasional hole. Ahead lie even higher and less broken clouds.
"Well then, Lee, you could always just follow the V28 airway from Linden to that intersection, SPOOK, there, then take up a heading direct to Alpine."
"Great idea! I can do that."
"Keep climbing - we'll need more altitude. What is the highest terrain on our route?"
"10,600 feet. That peak there." (pointing to sectional)
BTW - the autopilot has been flying the airplane this whole time. Plenty of time for dialogue, thinking and map-reading.
"We're now at 11,500 feet"
"Keep going. We're almost at SPOOK now. What is our heading to Alpine from there?"
I place my index finger on the Sectional direct from the intersection to Alpine, the move it up to a handy VOR compass rose and read the (aproximate!!) heading.
"About 60 degrees"
"Fly it! I think we can turn now. How far?"
(three fingers twice...) "Twenty miles".
"OK. Keep above these clouds".
(sound of slow climbing ensues...)
"12,500 feet. We still need higher"
"Keep climbing, if we can't make it we can always..."
"...turn back toward Placerville?"
"You got it."
"13,000 feet."
"Keep at it".
The clouds still seem to be in front of us; yet we ARE going to get across a small "saddle" between even higher clouds at each side, and YES there seems to be relief, more sun or something, across that saddle.
"13,500 feet. I think we are going to make it."
"Me too. definitely marginal, though!"
At this point I feel HAPPY, not even nervous a little bit! And this notwithstanding the fact that there is LITTLE to NO ground contact (we are on top) and I am flying HIGHER that I have ever been before in a small airplane. Over mountains! Just easy, easy, and we're almost there...
"13,700 feet. (!!!!!)
They have a name for this feeling. It is hypoxia. I am a little bit hypoxic and I know it. I try to be cool....
"And we're over the top. Look. There is a nice hole just ahead. And there's our road!"
"Take off all the power and go through the hole. It will be steep."
We descend.
"And now, ladies and gentleman, if you look out the right hand side of the aircraft, you will see the Alpine County airport!" -- I dream of saying; but don't even say it until I bank the airplane to confirm this guess, but once I do EVERYBODY sees it!
"Lee, great navigation!" enthuses Jeff from the back seat. I welcome the enthusiasm, but he is still maybe a bit heavy on the weight and balance side of the equation and he has been acting quite hypoxic.
"Let's just circle down here and check the terrain", says Pete. "And, if I'd have known it was this bad before we set out this morning I never would have gone out with you guys".
...oxygen returns to lungs. I feel better and more worried about stuff already...like the mountain landing which is sure to happen soon!
So - 13,700 in a heavy Tiger. We were about 180 lbs under gross at this phase in our flight!
BTW - our flight PAO to Q82 (Alpine) was uphill all the way, and done at indicated airspeeds of 110 knots (low) down to 85 knots (high). Yet, at 85 knots (high) tracking straight toward Hangtown the DME showed us a groundspeed of 139 knots. Tailwind and true airspeed city!
"Now. You'll see at this airport (Alpine) that there is no normal pattern. The pattern will take you completely around that hill to the East of the runway. In fact, you won't be able to see the runway at all on downwind."
"Also, look at the way the terrain will affect the winds around this airport. Departing runway 17, you may expect a downdraft account slight lower terrain and from the valley which surrounds."
"And notice how runway 17 slopes uphill one degree."
I pass the airport and circle back towards the pattern. I at first turn to a pattern the wrong side of the strip, but quickly correct after I am informed that I am wrong :^ ).
Now we turn towards the obscured downwind. Bang! Float! Dip! Bank! The turbulence is something to behold (although any old hand would probably call it "light" :^).
We turn around the backside of the next hill, trying to keep a mental picture of where that danged airport was in our head.
We turn final. Bang! Float! Dip! Bank! Yaw!
I deftly lose three hundred feet with flaps. Three hundred feet that I desperately need in the next few seconds on account of a sinking spot in the terrain...
Power!
Now! Power off! Bank! Dip! Yaw! Float! More float!
(we land uneventfully on the 50 foot wide strip.) It was hard to do, and a "firm" but not particularly "hard" landing, so I feel OK.
"Now taxi back for takeoff."
(sound of taxiing back for takeoff ensues..)
Takeoff. The plane excelerates at a profoundly "deliberate" pace. Density altitude is about 8,000 feet here, so we are probably making about 100 hp out of our original 180. And the plane feels real weird. (1) the runway is bumpy, and (2) we are going one heck of a lot faster at 60 knots indicated than at sea level.
I rotate, but a trifle too firm. We settle back a little. Now I have the feel; but we WE WE ARE NOT CLIMBING !!! The pine trees wip past very quickly, and we're off the end of the 4400 foot runway with maybe 40 or 50 feet of altitude. And a climb rate of about ZERO. Really.
"Now turn towards that hill. That's where we'll find some lift.."
And a gentle turn toward that hill (the windward side of it!) reveals that yes, there is some lift there. So we take it, while doing our crosswind and turn to downwind.
There is a point on our crosswind to downwind turn where we can see the field, so I look to gauge our position, and lo and behold we are about 200 FEET ABOVE the field. At the turn to downwind...contrast this to the easy 800 FEET we always have at PAO back home.
So I do the landing again, this time more keenly aware of this scrambling for lift, and of sink on final (keep it high!). The next landing works out about the same.
"Taxi off now and we'll change seats and Jeff can do a couple."
(Jeff "does it")
"Now. Let's go to Tahoe."
(we go to Tahoe. We fly takeoffs and landings at Tahoe. They have a "golf course" departure there -- take off on 18 then go over to the Golf Course and circle a while to gain altitude. Do NOT turn downwind until you are 7,500 MSL or about 1,200 feet above field elevation.)
Once we do this and even THIS does not work. Remember, the Tiger is a VERY MARGINAL mountain airplane. Pete has a brilliant idea.
"Tahoe Tower. 11905 request downwind RIGHT OVER THE RUNWAY to gain altitude."
"11905. Tahoe Tower. Request approved."
We go downwind right over the runway. We are only about 400 feet above it after a circle of the golf course at this point, but what the heck!
It WORKS!!! Runways are dark, dark concrete or asphalt and therefore have heating and thermals. We climb...
YET - It takes us about 15 miles, or ALL THE WAY TO NORTH SHORE Lake Tahoe, to achieve sufficient altitude to follow I-80 back home. This is really, really marginal!
We file IFR for much of the flight back and Jeff, who is flying now, gets
to log .9 under the hood and even 10 seconds of ACTUAL as we burst through
a cloud. I keenly take notes on the procedure to air-file a "pop up" IFR
clearance, which is what we did....